Man seriously hurt jumping from train during cop chase

A man being chased by police hopped on a moving freight train on the West Side this morning and was critically injured when he jumped off, officials said.

The man suffered serious injuries to his legs and was taken in critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said.

The man had been spotted by a Burlington Northern Santa Fe crew around 8:30 a.m. trying to steal copper wire from a generator near an underpass on Kedzie Avenue, according to Amy McBeth, spokeswoman for the BNSF.

Police were notified and began chasing the person, McBeth said. The man jumped on a train, but McBeth did not know if it was a BNSF train.

The man jumped off in the 3400 block of West Cermak Road, officials said.

Police had asked Metra to stop two trains on the line as it pursued someone who was "cutting cables," according to Metra spokeswoman Meg Reile.